Panel construction for switchboards.



A. F. DIXON. PANEL. CONSTRUCTION FOR SWITGHBOAEDS.

APPLICATION FILED APR.25.1908.

Patented Apr. 20, 1909.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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APPLICATION FILED APR. 25. 1908. 918,513. I 20,1909. 3 8HEET8BH ZBT 2.

A. F. DIXON. PANEL CONSTRUCTION FOR SWITGHBOARDS.

91 39 I APPLIOATIGlfT FILED APR. 25. 19.08). Patented Apr. 20,

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

plify t e wiring of the omen srarss PATENT omen AMOS F. DIXON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR 'lO WESTERN ELECTRIC COMPANY, 'OF

' CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

PANEL cons'rsuc'rxou res. swr'rcmoenns.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented. April20, 1909.

Application filed April 25, 1908. Serial nojeesmo.

To all whom it ma-y concern:

Be it known that I, Amos F. DIXON, citizen of the United States, residing at Newautomatic or semi-automatic telephone exchange system, and its object. is, in general,

to provide an improved simple structure wherein a large number of individual selectors are mounted compactl together in a bank, to permit the indivi uel operating mechanisms to -be conveniently driven from a common source .of power, to permit easy assembly, adjustment and repair of the va rious arts, .and more particularly to simmeterminals mult tipled'upon the different individual selectors,

by constructing such multiple terminals in strips punched from sheet metal, the con' struction, however, being such as not unduly to increase the inductive capacity efiect between adjacent conductors.

I will describe myinvention particularly by reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein.--

Figure 1 is a front view of a terminal boardand the brush carriers or movable switch members of a bank of selectors to which such terminal board is common; Fig. 2 is an edge view of the bank of selectors indicated in Fig. 1;Fig. 3 is a detail edge View of a portiorrof the terminal board, and two, of the selector brush-carrier rods or movable switch members traveling over the same, on a some what larger scale than Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a detail front viewoi' a portion of the board; Fig. 5 is a detail'sectional view of a fragment of the terminal board, taken transversely to the terminal strips; and Fig. 6 is a sectional plan view of alportion of the terminal board and some of the cooperating movable switch members.

Like parts are designated by similar charactors of reference throughout the several views.

Each selectoi'com trolled operating or lmses a selectwelymom elcvator mechanism 40, a movable switclrmember 50 operativcly-' connected thereto, and a row of stationary line terminals upon the common terminal board. As shown, the elevator mechanisms of the various individual selectors are mount sd close together attire topoi the comnicn terminal board, and are connected byfiexible cords,54 to theirrespective movable switch members or brush-carriers, which are shown. as rods 50 arranged to slide vertically in guides 55 before the board.

The board shown: .has' its terminals arranged in five horizontal zones, and each selector rod has five sets of brushes, one for each zone. The selectors illustrated are intended for three-wire switching and there are therefore three brushes. 51, 52, 53 in each set, the line terminals being correspondingly ar ranged in sets of three but it is evident that any other desired grouping may be emp y dr The terminal boardis built u or units ll supported at the en s posts 42 of the main framework. tion is secured individually at each end to a so arate supporting lug-43 which-is adjust- ,alily mounted upon a 0st 42', so that each injsections Tface of the terminal b l lili i ef section may be remove adjusted or replaced I independently of the others. Each section or imitof the terminal board comprises a block of insulating material having narrow horizontal parallel grooves in'its surface, receiving narrow line-terminal stri s 44 which may be punchings of sheet metal -aving cars or lugs projecting therefrom to form/the contact terminals 61, 62, 3, with which the brushes 5 1 52, 53-, respect vely, are adapted to engage. These ears or lugs upon the superposed metallicstrips thus form multiple rows of terminals,'one row for each selector mechanism, each metal strip having 9. lug or'niultiple terminal for each selector. As all the multiple terminals of a given oond-uhpor for a large number of selectors may thus. be constructed in a single strip, it will'be seen that the wiring for the bank of selectors is a comparatively simple matter as compared with the old lan oi separately wiring each terminal. ll multiple terminals oi the same line are required upon both sides or faces of the board, a terminal strip on one side may be connected to its mate on the other side by a short 'uinper wire 66 passing througha transverse ole in the board as shown in Fi 6. The line terminal strips 44 when embedded in the slots or grooves in the terminal boardare held in place by an insulating compound lot 65 such as thick varnish, applied in a soft or semi-liqud state, said compound when har dened serving to hold the stripsand their lugs rigidly-imposition. I

I am aware that it has been proposed heretofore to construct a bank of terminals from (alternate strips of metal and insulatingmaterial, piled up one above the other to form a unitary-structure, .the metal strips having inultipleears or contact lugs projectin on both sides of the panel thus built up. n a terminal board so constructed, however, the mutial capacity effect between adjacent con ucting. strips is undesirably high, due to the large surface area necessary to permit the piling of the conducting strips; in the structure of my invention, this objection is largely overcome, the conducting strips being very narrow, offering but little larger electrostatic area thaninn' ordinary wire. Indeed, the strips, instead of being punched from sheet metal, may be formed up from lengths of wire having loops at intervals to form the prchiiec'ting' contact lugs.

y invent on perm ts of a decrease in the electrostatic area of the conducting medium to such an extent that the accumulative charge-on the surface of the conductors may be dissipatedby grounding one of thethree termina strips the conductors individual toaline. 1,";

Myinv'ention has the advantage of a minimum transmission dissipation-and elimination of mutual disturbances between lines.

The path to ground from the third. terminal of each set may'bepbtained throu h the hat tery which is connected therewit in ordi nary systems, orthrough relays or other" apparatus having com' a'ratively low inducta nce. The termina -board of my invention is, moreover cheaper and easier to construct than the other.

The construction of terminal-Hoard herein described permitsboth sides of the board to-be used for the accommodation of travelingnswitch members of selectorsu-A compact arrangement of the elevator mechanisms is provided for b;- the supporting frame-shown, which has W0 platforms for supporting these: mechanisms, said platforms being mounted one above the other and the elevator mechanisms mounted thereon in staggered relations. That is to say, the elevator mechanism for one brush-carrier rod will be mounted, say, on the upper platform, while that of the mechanisms for the next adjacent rod will be on the lower plat form, and so on giving space forthe accommos dation of a large number of elevator mechamsms to permit the1r respective brushcarrier rods to be located at close intervals along'the'terminalboard. This manner of constructing and mounting the various parts of the bank of selectors permits a large group of operating or -elevator mechanisms to be c -mon terminal board having terminal-board, superpose conveniently driven from a common source ofmechenical power As shown, a motor: driven shaft 45 is suitably geared to ea of the elevator mechanisms along the whole length of theterminal board on one side; a similar shaft 45 being geared to the elevator mechanisms for the other side. It is underclutch by which its operating shaft carryin its elevator sheave 71 may be coupled wit or uncoupled from its power shaft, which is geared to the continuously-rotating motorr1 ven shaft.

1 claim 1 1.-' A selector-switch terminal board havmg shallow grooves in its face, narrow strips or sheet metal embedded edgewlse m said grooves, each strip having pro ectmg intervals along its length adapte to be engaged by contact brushes of ,ldifierent selectors, and insulating material flowed over the board and into said grooves and hardened.

2. A bank of selectors comprisin a commultip e sets of line. terminals In ,paralle rows, movable switch members for the individual selectors, arranged to travelover the difierentrows of line terminals, operating mechanisms for the individual selectors, each being operatively connected to its corresponding sw1tchm'em be ysnd means for supporting said operating mechanisms in staggered relations, whereby the movable switch members me be set at close intervals along the terminal-board.

' 3. A bank of selectors comprising a vertical terminal-board having multiple line-term'inals on both sides thereof, anrahged in vertical rows, a supportin frame for said orted by said frame above said terminalboard, elevator mechanisms of the individual selectors, su ported upon said. platforms in staggered re ations, and a common source of mechanical power connected to said elevator mechanisms to o erate the same.

.4. A terminalcard comprising end-posts,

board-sections or units of insulating material individually-secured at their ends to-said posts, so as to be 'independently-removable,

said units be'ing,superposed to form a conears at platfbrms sup-.

stood that each elevator mechanism has a 

